Earnings by Ottawa-Gatineau artists highest in Canada's largest cities

Artists in Ottawa-Gatineau earn the highest median incomes among those who work in the arts in Canada's six largest cities. But they receive a relatively small share of support from the two largest federal arts funding bodies.

Mike Kosowan, from Orbital Talent Circus School, teaches people how to juggle during 25th Annual Ottawa International Buskerfest along Sparks St. in Ottawa Thursday July 28, 2016.Darren Brown / Postmedia

Artists in Ottawa-Gatineau earn the highest median income among those who work in the arts in Canada’s six largest cities. But they receive a relatively small share of support from the two largest federal arts funding bodies.

The findings are included in arts and culture data released Thursday by the Community Foundation of Ottawa on its Ottawa Insights web portal, which provides information about a broad range of issues affecting quality of life in the capital.

Creative and performing artists in Ottawa earned a median after-tax income of nearly $25,000 in 2011, the community foundation reported — about $3,000 more than those in Toronto and $6,600 more than artists in Edmonton.

However, the income of Ottawa-Gatineau artists was still far below the capital’s overall median after-tax income of $41,000. Only 0.5 per cent of employed residents in Ottawa-Carleton — one in 200 — worked directly in the arts as directors, choreographers, musicians, dancers, actors, comedians and visual artists in 2011.

The community foundation also looked at arts funding from the two largest federal sources — the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts.

Excluding grants for nationally focused initiatives, Ottawa organizations and artists received $8.56 per resident from Canadian Heritage in 2015 and $4.09 from the Canada Council in 2015.

On a per-capita basis, Ottawa artists and organizations received less than half as much from the two federal funders as those in Toronto, and about one-fifth as much as artists and organizations in Montreal.

At the municipal level, arts and culture grant spending by the City of Ottawa has grown in recent years, but less than anticipated.

In 2015, the city spent $9.3 million on grants for arts and culture, up from $8.7 million in 2012. But anticipated increases were not maintained beyond 2014, the community foundation says.

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While Ottawa’s arts and culture grant funding is comparable to levels of municipal support in Toronto and Calgary, it’s far below the $23.16 per capita provided by Montreal. (That city’s funding increased significantly in 2015 in preparation for its upcoming 375th anniversary.)

Festivals are a major element of Ottawa’s arts and culture landscape, with 113 festivals in 2015. City of Ottawa records show there are 485 facilities for the creation or dissemination of art and performance across the city, including 85 regularly used for theatre and performance.

The community foundation also reported the city offered more than 53,000 recreation programs in 2015 — an increase of more than 80 per cent in the past decade.

Aquatic programs account for a significant proportion of the increase. With 35,000 programs, aquatics represent by far the largest category of recreational programming offered by the city.

By contrast, since 2010 there has been a 24-per-cent decline in participation levels in sports programs and a 30-per-cent decline in fitness programs.

At the city’s public libraries, per capita circulation of all content has increased by 9.4 per cent over the past decade — the highest by far among the country’s six largest cities. In fact, all other cities except Montreal have seen a decline over that period.

Arts & Culture is the seventh of eight themes the community foundation intends to release on Ottawa Insights. The final theme, Community & Belonging, will be released early next year.

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Earnings by Ottawa-Gatineau artists highest in Canada's largest cities